Seismic security

Deadly earthquake rocks central Italy; at least 38 dead and toll expected to rise

Rescue workers scrambled to reach survivors buried under rubble in isolated towns and villages across central Italy on Wednesday after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks struck the region overnight, collapsing homes, rattling buildings as far away as Rome and Venice and leaving an escalating toll of dead and injured.

At least 38 people were killed in the mountainous heart of the country, civil protection spokeswoman Immacolata Postiglione told reporters, according to news agencies.

In the worst hit towns, dramatic live images on Italy's state broadcaster RAI showed rescue workers and local residents desperately clawing through rubble to save buried victims, with several survivors, including a small girl, plucked alive from heaps of debris.